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Discipleship Through Relationship

January 03 2019

January 03 2019

By
Tom Breeden

Moving is a daunting task under even the best conditions. There are so many boxes to move. Nobody seems to remember how the sofa got through the door the first time, but it wasn’t one of the seven different ways you just tried. Books are a wonderful thing…until you have to carry boxes of them up and down a flight of stairs. I’ve never met someone who enjoys moving, but it’s infinitely better with extra hands. Whether it’s professionals you hire or friends you bribe with pizza, moving is smoother when others pitch in. The bigger the move, the truer this is.

But this isn’t just true of moving. So much of life is easier with a little bit of help. It’s easier to care for a pet when someone else shares the load. It’s easier to be a parent when you have a strong support network. It’s easier to meet that deadline when co-workers take on some of the responsibility. Life is easier when others pitch in – and this is true of discipleship too. It’s easier to faithfully follow Jesus when others help you do it.

As we begin a new year together, it’s worth remembering what we’re about here at Grace Community Church:

We exist to shape life-long followers of Jesus Christ through transforming relationships.

What does that mean? It means Christians don’t persevere to the end without brothers and sisters beside them. It means you need other people. It means discipleship happens through relationship. We want to intertwine our lives in such a way that we share the good, the bad, and the ugly and all the while spur each other on toward greater and greater faithfulness.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-12 reminds us of the day-to-day value of having these kinds of relationships:

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him – a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

God has made us in such a way that we need each other. We need each other to follow Christ and be who we were made to be. Life’s just easier when someone else pitches in. Who is helping you carry the load?